Feed Us A Live Insect

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Monolators comeback show on Monday at Pehrspace!

Hi all--

I am pleased to say that our hiatus is finally coming to a close! We (or, at least, 3/5 of us) are playing our comeback show this Monday at Pehrspace as part of the Tleilaxu Music Machine's record release show. This is a Sean Carnage show and we're very grateful to both Sean and Bene of the TMM for letting us be a part of the night--we've known Bene for years and, as you might recall, the Tleilaxu Music Machine did an amazing remix of Don't Dance last year--which, I just noticed, has made its way to youtube:

I first met bene tleilax...um...4 years ago in Modesto, California, at a club called The Mustang. The internet tells me that the Mustang stopped doing shows in December 2007, which doesn't really surprise me too much. This would have been in Summer '06, while we were on our very first tour.

So, yes. The Mustang. The Mustang was (is?) advertised as The Only Gay Club in Modesto. It was a cinderblock bunker near the train tracks by the freeway. The only indication of gayness was a xerox of a Chippendales dancer taped up over the bar. Friends of ours who had previously played there told us in no uncertain terms NOT TO BOTHER, but we didn't listen because we needed a show and were desperate. This turned out to be a mistake, sort of, as the Mustang show turned out to be spectacularly awful, but there were two highlights that are etched into my brain: (a) a lady performing tuneless, solo sub-Enya new age elevator synth pop while playing flute with an electric fan blowing her hair back (and I think I am doing Enya herself a disservice by that comparison), and (b) getting to meet Romak and the Space Pirates, sporting D. Bene himself on keyboards. R&TSP lacked the flute and electric fan, but were far more entertaining than the fan lady, which is saying something indeed!

Since then both Mary and I have followed Romak and Bene's solo music as Tleilaxu Music Machine, and we were extremely happy when Bene agreed to remix one of our songs for New Years last year. His version of Don't Dance was so rad that it pretty much superseded our own in my mind--at least, it's his version that I hear when I think of that song in my brain. So! I have been waiting for a whole album of Tleilaxu Music Machine for a long time and I am very very happy to say that it is coming! Pehrspace will celebrate the release of "Diamond Eyed Coyote" on Monday, October 11, presented by Sean Carnage and KXLU Demolisten! I am also extra happy that Sean and Bene asked us to play, too, and so we will!

This is going to be the Monolators' comeback show. We last played in...I wanna say...the beginning of July? Sometime around there. We have been on hiatus. Ray, our guitar player, broke his wrist and collarbone in a biking accident and we have been out of action for what seems like forever. We haven't had a break like this for something like 6 years and I am extremely eager for it to be over! We did want our comeback show to be special and so I am proud and honored that this show will be the end of our hiatus.

Also playing are two bands new to me--NYMPH from the East Coast and Japan (so sez their myspace) and Tujunga from LA. NYMPH plays what sounds to me like tribal jazz freakout psych rock with wordless vocalizing/yelping--I thought for a sec "this makes me think of les rallizes denudes a little" and then, yes, there is "les rallizes denudes" written on their influences. Really! I did think of that! It's true, it's all true. Tujunga likes dark reverby surf guitars and sad songs about girls who don't like them, I gather, which is
basically what all good songs are about. Except songs about cars and, I think, birds (remeber "Eagle" by ABBA? Sure you do). So this covers all the other bases.

I am very much looking forward to this show! I hope you are too and that you can make it. Neither Ray nor Jillinda will be there, sadly, but Mary, Ashley and I will, so it'll be as the classic 3-piece Monolators.